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property| the wealth collection isthe first building to be completed by the practice in the US. Kanalabout ViLA NM, an otherworldly private residence in upstate that Benvan Berkel that fell to earth The 39 ofAmsterdam-based architects UNStudio talks to Christopher

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property | the wealth collection Photos © Christian Richters Christian © Photos 14/3/08 17:11:27 40 nce, o at all Van Berkel describesBerkel their Van first meeting as a Tsimmer bought a 13-acre plot of land with project was first discussed way back in 2000. in back way discussed first was project ‘[Tsimmer] very was slightly surreal experience. open to experimenting with the how design he and working sleeping,’ together living, weaves him Tsimmer a gave cheque adding that recalls, on the spot. The Russian raised was in the magnificent views. Urals and a wanted dacha for his new frontier. Tsimmer one was of the former Union’s Soviet He organised fledgling Moscow’s capitalists. American-style opened and firsteven rave ever AmericaComing to in doughnut shops. the early Tsimmer soon built an empire exporting 1990s, such products as back chickens frozen to the old country at a time when the post-Soviet in was economy and meltdown queues for food TV news staple. a regular building costs.’ Thanks to Tsimmer’s belief in ViLA ViLA in belief Tsimmer’s to Thanks costs.’ building design Berkel’s van capital, his as well as NM, The love. of labour a was it but realised, been has Russian achas. d and

‘I am fascinated with the idea of the holiday holiday the of idea the with fascinated am ‘I ViLA NM certainly explores new frontiers of frontiers new explores certainly NM ViLA The house responds well to its rural location, location, rural its to well responds house The made are windows The a it little. transforms even Las old in used glass bronze-tinted same the of the gives glass the afternoon the In casinos. Vegas the as and glow, a golden landscape surrounding transfigured. mirrored, becomes it sets, slowly sun house the of essence ‘The Berkel. van says home,’ a place a dacha, like be to needed it that was layers different many so are There holidays. for put cannot it see and come who people that an from different it makes what on finger their in be may roots NM’s ViLA home.’ American definition. resists building the but Europe, love of Labour scarce very are these like projects ‘Small-scale almost become has ‘It Berkel. van says today,’ high the of because them do to impossible architectonics as well as evoking, all at once, 1970s 1970s once, at all evoking, as well as architectonics dachas. Russian and motels desert Mojave kitsch, ViLA NM evokes, 1970s e kitsch, desert Moj av motels

space oddity sits among the rolling rolling the among sits oddity space golden The York. New upstate of hills building first Studio’s UN of windows

ViLA NM, located in Sullivan County, New New County, Sullivan in located NM, ViLA The sinuous characteristics of Dutch Dutch of characteristics sinuous The the ground as well as the way that it is almost almost is it that way the as well as ground the Ben UNStudio’s says it,’ from away fly to trying . in office his from Berkel van York State, was completed last year. It was built built was It year. last completed was State, York his and businessman a Russian Tsimmer, Leo for Depending Apple. Big the from a as retreat family, either looks NM ViLA view, of point your on the from up raised was or sky the from fell it like to connected is NM ViLA way the like ‘I earth. evident from a distance as you approach the the approach you as a distance from evident astride sitting NM, VilA called house, two-storey This area. the in hills prominent most the of one undulating pasture, of waves Country: Big the is and pine of snatches abrupt and mountains forest. birch A World. New the onto out look US the in are building UNStudio’s pioneer architectural

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The earth to fell that TWC008_023_Modern Architecture.i42 42

property| the wealth collection design co mplex a simpl evoked. house The fun. sexy pla is NM ViLA Mercedes-BenzMuseum inStuttgart. interlockingspirals ofUNStudio’s celebrated Theinternal knotted movement evokes the 41 yful,

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completedin 2006 and conceived as arevamping celebratedMercedes-Benz Museum in , evokesthe interlocking spirals of UN Studio’s ViLANM’s signature internal knotted movement Modernistdesign otherrises above it. Thecentral vertical axis forms twoparts –one follows the slope of the hill, the Theflat-roofed 300 square-metre villa is split into twist Design play with the transformative principles of principles transformative the playwith private,away.havemelted but all play,betweenworkand boundaries and public worldwhereelastic an mould to him enabled havethat technologies computer-age of werealso used in the Mercedes Benz Museum. MercedesBenz Museum. Thetwists in the house butthere are more links between it and the NMas afurther extension of the Mobius House, GuggenheimMuseum. ‘Ilike to think of ViLA ofFrank Lloyd Wright’srotunda at the ‘What is wonderful today is that youcan that wonderfultodayis is ‘What VanBerkel’s influence the markedbywork is landscape. thesurrounding 360ºviews of familyto enjoy windowsallow the wallsand large perimeterglass Expansive floorcantilever. forthe first- structuralsupport movementbut forunobstructed column-freespace providingnot just tothe design, twistis central andfireplace. The bathroom,kitchen thatcontains the atwisted shape

mostimportant waspart thefireplace. Itsone- inclusivenessofhisGlass House andhow the says VanBerkel. ‘Healways joked about the modernistarchitects. ‘Iknew Philip Johnson,’ The Americanruralretreat haslong influenced outside,but only trulyappreciated once inside. impactofthese contortions isevident onthe curvetomeet thesoffit above theentrance. The exteriorwall ofthesouth endlifts gentleupina thecantilevered bedroom wing. Thisiswhere the thetopofthe hill isthetucked –carport under fromroaddirta that leads uptoitsposition at evidentasyou approach ViLANM’s entrance obsessedwith gold.’ mirroredlandscape – TsimmerRussianisa goldenwindows, theendless reflections and qualitytothedesign,’ says van Berkel. ‘The designsimply evoked. ‘Therelight-heartedisa isplayful, sexy andfun. Thehouse complexisa nevertake themselves tooseriously. ViLANM contemporaryarchitecture, van Berkel’s designs vanBerkel’s dreams. Yet,unlike lotaof design, ViLANMcomes closest torealising is.actually structure a what and building a of organisation material the reinterprets elastic.’more far designs approachalso This makereferencesand yourstylistic liberate to architecture,’says VanBerkel. ‘You start can thatthesouth elevation ofvan Berkel’s design crucialatanew point, territory particularly given Itscurved middle section marks departurea into NMtakes different,a almost anarchic approach. ofbasic rectangles that satabove theearth, ViLA thefirsthalf ofthe20th century emerged out inthefireplace?” Frank said.’ pointedtothefireplace. “AmsupposedI toshit onceandasked tousethe bathroom andPhilip FrankLloyd visitedWright theGlass House withfireplacea andtoilet integrated into it. columnthebrick whole carries construction, Withitsswooping interiorsand androgynous. However,whereas theModernist structures of Hintsofwhat liebeneath theexterior are 14/3/08 17:12:06 TWC008_023_Modern Architecture.i44 44

property| the wealth collection Ben van Berkel van Ben in am Main. am Frankfurt in Staedelschule the at design conceptual of professor the currently is and teaches, also VanBerkel Denmark. Aarhus, in House Light the and the , in Agora Theatre the include projects Recent UNStudio. firm: new a established Bos and Berkel van Ben 1998 In projects. others among , of University the for facilities NMR the and house Moebius the , Valkhofin Het Museum , in bridge Erasmus the building, office Karbouw the designed ArchitectuurbureauBos & VanBerkel The Amsterdam. in practice architectural an up set Bos and Berkel van 1988, In . in Association Architectural the at and Amsterdam in Academy Rietveld the architectureat studied Van Berkel architectureinternationally.of practice and theory the to contribution their Awardfor Jencks the won year last who Bos, Caroline UNStudio’sand for projectBerkel van US first dramatic fittingly a is NM VilA Design duo

fe r ViLANM simultaneouslycreating radicallya different interactionwith theland surrounding it, while transformsthespatial reality of ViLANM’s describesasa ‘superintegral addition’ inthedesign.’ reallyputyour finger onwhere thescenes are anintegral coherent quality where you cannot thembring together, instead oftryingtofind architecturewe still work infragments and wastocreate ambiguity ininterpretation. ‘In ingredientsofarchitecture blur into each other.’ ingredientsbut prefer onewhere allthe ofcollage architecture with different, separated model,’says van Berkel. ‘Idon’t like theidea beyondwhatcall I the collage oftheModernist GlassHouse (1949). ‘Iaminterested ingoing FarnsworthHouse (1951) aswell asJohnson’s appearstopay homage toMies van derRohe’s LEDlights. Leaving thekitchen you pass into frompolycarbonate panels embedded with intothekitchen, thewalls ofwhich are made Theentrance from youbringsthecarport approach Critical asanengineer,’ hereflects. lecturedatthe AAand talked about architecture practice. ‘Iwas fascinated when Calatrava wasfollowed by work atSantiago Calatrava’s 1980shewas studenta ofZaha Hadid’s, which Association(AA) inLondon. Inthemid- Academyin Amsterdamand atthe Architectural evolved.Hestudied architecture attheRietveld howvan Berkel’s design philosophy has Suchattention building’stoa impact reflects approach Radical comestogether,’ says van Berkel. importantfactorsdetermining how thehouse theview ofthelandscape isoneofthe most slopehill.ofa ‘Ifyou walk around thehouse, thehouse, twiststhe form again tofollow the canopya over thecarport. Aroundtheback of thensnake-likerises upatoneend tohang as absorbedinto ViLANM.” onthelandscape around it, which isalmost peoplebrings together inthehouse, playitisa levels,’says van Berkel. ‘Thistwist notonly interior. ‘Ithouseisa withtwist a onmany Thearchitectural twist that van Berkel Oneresult theofblurringdesign elements Therectangular twists form atmidpoint, a ll isedfro fro l m ookseither the sky or w m the e accessible,but you canalso hide.’ modernopen house,’ says van Berkel. ‘Itisas strivingforlight andtransparency. to,inmarked contrast toModernism’s ceaseless thewindows, ViLANMoffers areas toretreat movement. Whilethere isgenerous light from thebedrooms completes theswooping interior mountains. secondA setofstairs leading upto areconfronted with sweeping panoramas ofthe refuge.Onreaching thetop ofthe stairs you andexpanding tomindbringswomb-like a andthesheer animation ofspaces contracting ofthecurves, thesensuality ofthesurfaces spacefrom theliving room above. Thetautness strikingtwisting stair lightly fallsthrough this whilewalla metamorphoses intoceiling. a A Oneofthefloors twists tobecome wall,a abruptlytoconnect thetwo ends ofthehouse. passagewaya that gradually opens andtwists andunderstand it.’ goodpiece ofwritingtoread something again tocome back,’ hesays, ‘asthey would with a reactionheseeks above allothers. ‘Iwant them houseina designed by him. Andthere isone people,andnot just those lucky enough tolive alsonot important.’ ‘Iam arguing that architecture is important, but ‘Weare too concerned with the iconic,’ he says. memoriesthat only reveal themselves after time. tothestereo speakers setin the swimming pool. touches,from bathrooma decked outinmarble tothedesign of ViLANMthrough eccentric rhythmsinthedesign.’ Geometrycanlet you play with particular themusic ofPhillip Glass orPierre Boulez. geometricalelements cancreate calmness, like sectionsandstructures using certain limited Berkel. ‘Ihave discovered that creating complex iseffectively playa between thetwo,’ says van complex,thespace isvery simple. Thehouse questfor spatial qualities in the house.’ surroundings,’he says. ‘Thereis atransformative complexand the sober and the serenity of the designon many levels. ‘Ithink it plays with the VanBerkel wants the house to communicate Manylevels ‘ViLAkindNMisa of critique of the VanBerkel wants hisdesigns toinspire Helikes to create ‘afterimages’ –spatial VanBerkel anuninhibitedbrings playfulness ‘Whilethevolumes of ViLANMare a rth.

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